Federal grants drive the militarization of police departments in America.

[woo me with science]

Last edited Thu Aug 14, 2014, 10:24 AM - Edit history (4)

Police departments cannot afford this garbage on their own. This is federally driven, right along with mass surveillance, intimidation of journalists, persecution of whistleblowers, corporate government, and the propaganda machines.

Add it up, and it spells nascent fascism in America.


Homeland Security is the source of the grants to local police departments for militarization and vehicles like tanks. These grants are a CHOICE.

Military device used on Detroit protest against #WaterShutoffs
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014852205

All The Infrastructure A Tyrant Would Need, Courtesy Of Bush And Obama - TheAtlantic
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022973186

The Militarizing of Local Police (through Federal Grants)
http://www.forbes.com/sites/bradlockwood/2011/11/30/the-militarizing-of-local-police/

Another Day, Another 124 Violent SWAT Raids
https://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/another-day-another-124-violent-swat-raids

Does your local government have a “black budget” too?
https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security-technology-and-liberty-criminal-law-reform/does-your-local-government-have

Too many cops are told they're soldiers.
https://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform-free-speech-technology-and-liberty/too-many-cops-are-told-theyre-soldiers

"One ongoing scandal in the criminal justice world, for example, is the fact that there's no reliable data on how often police officers fire their weapons at citizens. The federal government is supposed to collect these figures, but for whatever reason, it simply hasn't done so."

Towns don't need tanks, but they have them.
https://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform-free-speech/towns-dont-need-tanks-they-have-them

Full ACLU Report on Police Militarization
https://www.aclu.org/criminal-law-reform/war-comes-home-excessive-militarization-american-police-report

[marmar]

1. K/R

Beware the military-industrial-law enforcement-surveillance-prison complex .......

Missing any?

[sabrina 1]

3. Don't they all come together in your friendly, though secretive, neighborhood fusion center?

[marmar]

5. Very much so. Beta testing, you know.

[glinda]

38. ya like our local Military Base....where they built a big

building saying it is offices but looks like a prison. In fact....I recall reading it was a prison also. I also love that they used the area as a wolf research center observing them and now the NRA has its hooks in that too and they are sport shooting them.

[sabrina 1]

2. How did this happen without the approval of Congress? I do NOT recall any bills before Congress

asking for money for militarizing the police. I would think such a bill would have sparked outrage at least among Democrats.

We learned quite a bit about this during OWS. We learned how coordinated the attacks on peaceful protesters were in different cities. Even more remarkable was seeing the almost identical gear and tactics used in cities in EUROPE, as if we had some kind of Global Police force.

But you know what, we also had people here condemning the Protesters. Here at least you would have expected some kind of understanding of what all this means to a so-called democracy.

[woo me with science]

13. Secret government. "Black budgets."

https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security-technology-and-liberty-criminal-law-reform/does-your-local-government-have

Does your local government have a “black budget” too?
09/09/2013
By Matthew Cagle, Volunteer Attorney, ACLU of Northern California at 2:32pm

Cross posted on the ACLU of Northern California blog.

As we learn more about the US intelligence community's top secret, multi-billion dollar "Black budget" and how the NSA pays technology companies to comply with the Prism spying program, another mostly unnoticed pipeline moves billions of federal surveillance dollars from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to local governments...
....
Here in California we've seen numerous examples of federal grant funds encouraging local law enforcement to seek out surveillance technology. A portion of an estimated $50 million in federal funding has allowed Northern California police departments to adopt automated license plate readers that record data on innocent citizens from atop police cars and save it in federal databases. In San Diego, a $500,000 federal grant funds a facial recognition system capable of identifying and building profiles of people without criminal records—this is in addition to the many federally-funded local video surveillance systems in California and elsewhere. Last year, the ACLU of Northern California fought the Alameda County Sheriff's plans to seek acceptance of federal funds for a drone, and the Berkeley police department even acquired funds to purchase a tank. Finally, in July 2013 Oakland accepted $2 million federal dollars to create a "domain awareness center" network of surveillance technology aimed at its own residents. These examples are striking, yet they are just a snapshot of a larger national trend towards federally funded local surveillance (not to mention the militarization of police).

https://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform-free-speech/towns-dont-need-tanks-they-have-them

On March 6th, ACLU affiliates in 23 states filed over 255 public records requests with law enforcement agencies and National Guard offices to determine the extent to which federal funding and support has fueled the militarization of state and local police departments.

[sabrina 1]

31. I know we knew about this, the militarization of the PDs. We were called CTs airc, despite all the

evidence of what was going on. The training of our PD in Israel, eg, the NYPD Chief's 'Global work' with other police around the world, which explained why the OWS crackdowns in Paris, London etc looked exactly like they did here.

What's different this time, as we all know to those of us paying attention this is not news, the media is actually covering the subject.

Eg, during the Governor's press conference today, a reporter asked him about the 'militarized force' that was the 'cause of the problems last night'. The Gov diverted the question. We KNOW from OWS that these assaults were approved of and coordinated by mayors across the country, most of them Democrats. It was obvious this Gov did not want to discuss THAT issue, probably because he knew and approved of it. But another reporter picked up on the question saying, 're that question, I'm not sure you answered it'. Again, he did not directly address it.

Now two Senators, so far, Rand Paul and Claire McCaskill and one member of Congress are demanding that the militarization of civilian police be stopped.

There is some momentum now, with the media and so far, a few members of Congress actually addressing it. Maybe it's time for us to start calling and reminding them of the upcoming election.

Otoh, we've been here before, 'hoping' for 'change' and then it all goes away.

[octoberlib]

39. Good article on the subject by Jamelle Bouie

This process ramped up with the “war on drugs” in the 1980s and 1990s, as the federal government supplied local and state police forces with military-grade weaponry to clamp down on drug trafficking and other crime. And it accelerated again after the 9/11 attacks and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, when the federal government had—and sent—billions in surplus military equipment to state and local governments. Since 2006, according to an analysis by the New York Times, police departments have acquired 435 armored vehicles, 533 planes, 93,763 machine guns, and 432 mine-resistant armored trucks. Overall, since Congress established its program to transfer military hardware, local and state police departments have received $4.3 billion worth of equipment. Accordingly, the value of military equipment used by these police agencies has increased from $1 million in 1990 to $324 million in 1995 (shortly after the program was established), to nearly $450 million in 2013 http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/08/police_in_ferguson_military_weapons_threaten_protesters.html

[kirby]

25. Post 9/11 Bipartisan Effort

After 9/11 there was a big push from both parties to fund the 'first responders' and provide them the equipment they need to fight terrorism. It has all the elements of what politicians love: Money for their district, money for the military suppliers, being tough on crime, being tough againt terrorism, etc. Not only did Congress approve this, they campaigned on these themes of making America safer.

[woo me with science]

30. More on these programs.

ACLU launches nationwide police militarization investigation
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/aclu-police-militarization-swat_n_2813334.html

It's almost certain that if the police agencies cooperate, the ACLU will find that the militarization trend has accelerated since Kraska's studies more than a decade ago. All of the policies, incentives and funding mechanisms that were driving the trend then are still in effect now. And most of them have grown in size and scope.

The George W. Bush administration actually began scaling down the Byrne and COPS programs in the early 2000s, part of a general strategy of leaving law enforcement to states and localities. But the Obama administration has since resurrected both programs. The Byrne program got a $2 billion surge in funding as part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, by far the largest budget in the program's 25-year history. Obama also gave the COPS program $1.55 billion that same year, a 250 percent increase over its 2008 budget, and again the largest budget in the program's history. Vice President Joe Biden had championed both programs during his time in the Senate.

The Pentagon's 1033 program has also exploded under Obama. In the program's monthly newsletter (Motto: "From Warfighter to Crimefighter&quot , its director announced in October 2011 that his office had given away a record $500 million in military gear in fiscal year 2011, which he noted, "passes the previous mark by several hundred million dollars." He added, "I believe we can exceed that in FY 12.”

Then there are the Department of Homeland Security's anti-terrorism grants. The Center for Investigative Reporting found in a 2011 investigation that since 2001, DHS has given out more than $34 billion in grants to police departments across the country, many of which have been used to purchase military-grade guns, tanks, armor, and armored personnel carriers. The grants have gone to such unlikely terrorism targets as Fargo, N.D.; Canyon County, Idaho; and Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Link to the final ACLU report on militarization of police in America
https://www.aclu.org/criminal-law-reform/war-comes-home-excessive-militarization-american-police-report

[Dawson Leery]

34. I would vote to eliminate all the above programs.

[Sunlei]

4. Local police are allowed to keep any cash they seize & the Feds share the loots /w Locals.

Federal Gov. gives police first dibs on any extra military gear, supplies. They get first grab on any property seized before Gov. sales. Some police departments set-up stops more on the cash side of a highway. Local police love to group-up with Feds in drug war counties.

Things would change if any drug warz cash seized went to a National group and was dispersed evenly across America. Or used only for a specific purpose like free meals in all public schools.

To entrenched now in our society. Would take an act of Congress to change, right now we have the worse Congress in history.

[woo me with science]

6. This is the second time I have seen this utterly fabricated and untrue talking point

that it would " take an act of Congress" to stop it.

Utter bullshit. There is no law forcing Homeland Security to make military gear available to police departments, or to forcing them to provide these massive grants so that police departments can afford it.

These grants are a choice.

[Sunlei]

14. yes, it is. Go to gov sales and read the 'fine print' Gov large and small have first dibs on any sei

seized loots. Even homes or buildings 'taken' by the gov. all Gov agencies have their choice of any properties.

I do not know what deals/access to 'favors' 'Homeland security' military surplus makes with police departments.

Even the word 'Homeland security' is so broad an agency. Do you know what their entire job is? I don't. All I've seen of them is when some small bill looks like it will pass, the bill gets thrown into 'homeland security' and then the bill is never seen again.

[former9thward]

36. There is a law.

Take the 1033 program. The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) may be an obscure agency within the Department of Defense, but through the 1033 program, which it oversees, it's one of the core enablers of American policing's excessive militarization. Beginning in 1990, Congress authorized the Pentagon to transfer its surplus property free of charge to federal, state, and local police departments to wage the war on drugs. In 1997, Congress expanded the purpose of the program to include counterterrorism in section 1033 of the defense authorization bill. In one single page of a 450-page law, Congress helped sow the seeds of today's warrior cops.

The amount of military hardware transferred through the program has grown astronomically over the years. In 1990, the Pentagon gave $1 million worth of equipment to US law enforcement. That number had jumped to nearly $450 million in 2013. Overall, the program has shipped off more than $4.3 billion worth of materiel to state and local cops, according to the DLA.

In its recent report, the ACLU found a disturbing range of military gear being transferred to civilian police departments nationwide. Police in North Little Rock, Arkansas, for instance, received 34 automatic and semi-automatic rifles, two robots that can be armed, military helmets, and a Mamba tactical vehicle. Police in Gwinnet County, Georgia, received 57 semi-automatic rifles, mostly M-16s and M-14s. The Utah Highway Patrol, according to a Salt Lake City Tribune investigation, got an MRAP from the 1033 program, and Utah police received 1,230 rifles and four grenade launchers. After South Carolina's Columbia Police Department received its very own MRAP worth $658,000, its SWAT Commander Captain E.M. Marsh noted that 500 similar vehicles had been distributed to law enforcement organizations across the country.

Astoundingly, one-third of all war materiel parceled out to state, local, and tribal police agencies is brand new.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/08/america-police-military-swat-ferguson-westcott-tampa

[woo me with science]

37. The law permits it. The law does not require it.

In addition, the administration has aggressively revived and *expanded* the programs that do this:

ACLU launches nationwide police militarization investigation
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/aclu-police-militarization-swat_n_2813334.html

It's almost certain that if the police agencies cooperate, the ACLU will find that the militarization trend has accelerated since Kraska's studies more than a decade ago. All of the policies, incentives and funding mechanisms that were driving the trend then are still in effect now. And most of them have grown in size and scope.

The George W. Bush administration actually began scaling down the Byrne and COPS programs in the early 2000s, part of a general strategy of leaving law enforcement to states and localities. But the Obama administration has since resurrected both programs. The Byrne program got a $2 billion surge in funding as part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, by far the largest budget in the program's 25-year history. Obama also gave the COPS program $1.55 billion that same year, a 250 percent increase over its 2008 budget, and again the largest budget in the program's history. Vice President Joe Biden had championed both programs during his time in the Senate.

The Pentagon's 1033 program has also exploded under Obama. In the program's monthly newsletter (Motto: "From Warfighter to Crimefighter&quot , its director announced in October 2011 that his office had given away a record $500 million in military gear in fiscal year 2011, which he noted, "passes the previous mark by several hundred million dollars." He added, "I believe we can exceed that in FY 12.”

Then there are the Department of Homeland Security's anti-terrorism grants. The Center for Investigative Reporting found in a 2011 investigation that since 2001, DHS has given out more than $34 billion in grants to police departments across the country, many of which have been used to purchase military-grade guns, tanks, armor, and armored personnel carriers. The grants have gone to such unlikely terrorism targets as Fargo, N.D.; Canyon County, Idaho; and Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Link to the final ACLU report on militarization of police in America
https://www.aclu.org/criminal-law-reform/war-comes-home-excessive-militarization-american-police-report

[sabrina 1]

8. Thanks. 'Would take an act of Congress to change'. Then that is what needs to happen.

My question now is, was there an act of Congress to allow this obviously corrupt system to prevail or did Police Depts just decide on their own to grab all that money? I know about the Draconian Drug laws regarding the seizing of property, that was bad enough, but to think Congress gave the police the right to keep it for their own use, that is a set up for Corruption and false seizures etc.

And yes, I know we have the worst Congress right now who probably like things the way they are. Which is why, imo, the Congressional races both in Nov and in 2016 are by far, WAY more important than the race that gets all the attention.

[CrispyQ]

12. "...used only for a specific purpose like free meals in all public schools."

Okay, that made me LOL. Like we would ever do that! So many complaints from right wingers about kids getting a free lunch at school, but never a word about all the martini lunches you know we buy for the crooked banksters.

[Sunlei]

17. I know. free meals for all comers in all our public schools would NEVER happen in America.

Instead the seized loot makes our LOCAL police departments flush with riches. cash taken from the pockets of any citizen they want. (plus cash/loot found in any 'raids')

[CrispyQ]

19. I cannot believe adult humans would complain about kids getting a free lunch.

That just blows my mind.

Personally, I would add a free breakfast to the program, too.

[CrispyQ]

7. Kicking for an important post.

It's going to get harder to hold them accountable, too.

Massachusetts SWAT Teams Claim They're Private Corporations To Get Out Of Transparency Requests

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140627/09052427701/mass-swat-teams-claim-theyre-private-corporations-to-get-out-transparency-requests.shtml

snip...

As part of the American Civil Liberties Union's recent report on police militarization, the Massachusetts chapter of the organization sent open records requests to SWAT teams across that state. It received an interesting response. As it turns out, a number of SWAT teams in the Bay State are operated by what are called law enforcement councils, or LECs. These LECs are funded by several police agencies in a given geographic area and overseen by an executive board, which is usually made up of police chiefs from member police departments...Some of these LECs have also apparently incorporated as 501(c)(3) organizations. And it’s here that we run into problems. According to the ACLU, the LECs are claiming that the 501(c)(3) status means that they're private corporations, not government agencies. And therefore, they say they're immune from open records requests.

Now they won't have to tell us how often a SWAT team is sent vs. plain 'ole cops, or what types of weapons they use, or even what their procedures are when there is a baby in the house. Remember the little baby who was hospitalized in critical condition cuz some weapon blew up in his playpen while he was in it?

http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2014/06/26/update-on-baby-bou-bou-injured-in-swat-raid/

Atlanta (WAOK)- Nineteen month old Bounkham Phonesavanh who was critically injured in May when a flash grenade exploded in his play pen has been transferred to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite to begin rehabilitation. The family continues to need financial support and are staying in a hotel to remain closer to their son. The family’s lawyer said the boy may have some brain damage.

“I was able to hold my son and hear his voice for the first time since the grenade exploded. After all that has happened to him, I am amazed at his strength. He has a long way to go but our prayers are being answered. We feel like it’s a miracle.” Bounkham Phonesavanh, Father of Baby Bou Bou

All donations for the family can be made to a Wells Fargo Bank Trust account in the name of Bounkham Phonesavanh. Online donations be made at www.justiceandprayersforboubou.org

Photos of the recovering little one with his family at the link.

Fucking police/SWAT assholes. I don't have respect for the police. Their wall of silence & protecting their own at all costs is sickening. I'm tired of reading about (mostly black male) citizens getting blown away by some trigger happy cop & then the cop gets suspension with pay & often times, is back at his post when the hubbub dies down.

[sabrina 1]

9. So they are Mercenaries, let's stop calling these private military operations, 'private contractors'

They are Mercenaries. Bad enough we use them in foreign countries, but using them on our streets is so outrageous I can't put into words what I feel like saying without getting it hidden.

Seems we have a system where we train troops and send them into war zones. Then they can join a private Merc Corp like Blackwater where they are paid way more than the ordinary soldiers pay.

Some of them are then recruited into our Civilian PDs. Trained for war, they apparently view the American people the same way they viewed civilian populations in the war zones they came home from.

What a perfect system to keep OUR civilian population under control.

[mopinko]

10. this is how we feed the merchants of death. this must stop.

your tax dollars at work.

we MUST stop this madness.

[L0oniX]

11. K & R

[zeemike]

15. Thank you Woo thank you.

Can always count on you guys to come up with information on important subjects.
K+R

[R Merm]

16. Unfortunately, an arms race has been created between the gun nuts and the police.

When gun nuts can go out and buy military style weapons with large capacity clips and body armor. Ordinary hand guns just don't cut it any more. There is no question what we are seeing here is not right, just because you have and in some cases need these weapons, doesn't mean you should use them.

[marlene.elyse]

18. Also financed through seized property auctions

I think I read on Bill Moyers that they seize property 'believed' to be involved with drug activity and even if not guilty-they have to sue to get property back. These auctions bring in a huge amount of funding.

This also encourages drug raids over investigations into murders and rapes.

[JEB]

20. K&R&bookmark

[leftstreet]

21. DURec

[bbgrunt]

22. kick and rec +1000

[Dustlawyer]

23. This is how they get around Posse Comitatus, just make the police officers into soldiers.

Next time you are on a criminal jury and the Defendant is charged with "Resisting Arrest," remember the two reporters from last night describing how they were complying when the officer kept telling them "stop resisting" and they kept repeating "I am not resisting" only to have their heads slammed into coke machines and glass doors. This makes it look like they struggled with police and gives the cops some sick jollies!

This is all being driven by the 1% who want to demonize blacks to further their attack on the safety net. The methods being used in Ferguson are what we can expect for future protests, this is the new play book. Notice how government, other than the police have been silent while this has been going on. They want to discourage anyone from protesting ANYTHING!

When will we get smart and go after the root problem which is legalized bribery of our politicians and Judges through campaign donations? We need to fight to eliminate campaign contributions altogether and have publicly funded elections. It will take masses of committed people protesting and letting the politicians know we will vote them out if they do not support this effort to restore our Democracy! Once done, the first thing we should have OUR Representatives do is bust up the financial and media conglomerates that are corrupting our Democracy.

[woo me with science]

27. + 1 Secret laws, secret courts, secret budgets.

Our money flowing from the federal government to surveillance machines and military equipment and programs to be used against us.

"We the People" have nothing to do with any of this, except insofar as we are the targets.

You are correct. We need corporate money and power out of politics.

[Dustlawyer]

29. Until the people here and at other similar sites start the ball rolling, things will continue to get

worse. This reaction by police is no accident, they have trained for this, this is their plan. 5 days for the government to step in while America watches what happens now when you try to protest.

By the way, where are the AP and other outlets getting the information that protestors were throwing Molotov cocktails?

[glinda]

24. Must read. K&R

[Blue Idaho]

26. Three Cheers for "Homeland Security"

Thank you George Bush, thank you Dick Cheney, thank you congress for the militarization of local cops. No longer is the fuzz seen as a force to "Serve and Protect" the community - now their job is to harass and murder citizens.

Thank god these jackboot thugs finally beat up a couple of journalists. Now that the "media" is pissed we may see a bright spotlight shown on the police riots happening around this nation.

[Dawson Leery]

33. Shrub was the worst President.

The legacy of the illegitimate war criminal will last past our lifetimes.

[KittyWampus]

28. From your research, can you tell if this is happened at town level or county level?

[countryjake]

32. It's an odd confluence we're seeing this week...

in the displays of the "training" received domestically to handle what those in power consider "crimiterrorists" and that bloody "war on terrorism" going on elsewhere all month.

http://mondoweiss.net/2011/12/from-occupation-to-occupy-the-israelification-of-american-domestic-decurity.html


Thanks for the thread, woo me with science. It's truly frightening.

[Maven]

35. Isn't it ultimately driven by the MIC?

Give the "old" merch to the local depts so you can sell this year's toys to the feds? Creates more equipment turnover hence higher demand.

I'm speculating but, you know, cui bono, follow the money, etc. etc.